4.21.2008

Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina in April

I’m headed off to Greensboro, North Carolina on Thursday for the annual meeting of Quakers Uniting in Publications (QUIP).

On Friday night, I’ll be part of a panel with Will T. and Gil Skidmore about Blogging as Ministry: The Quaker Way. I’m still developing what I might say, but here are some of the points that I thought of:
  • Q blogs offer spiritual material to read between magazine issues
  • Q blogs are a form of contemporary, narrative theology
  • Q blogs offer connections across boundaries - windows through the institutional walls
  • Q blogs feature respectful engagement
  • Q blogs are part of a small universe - If I don't know the person, I probably know someone who knows him or her
  • Q blogs have led to intervisitation
  • Q blogs make Quakerism more visible
  • Q blogs enable more folks to be heard by others
  • The Quaker Quaker community knits us together
I invite your comments and suggestions. The real challenge is to be brief…

On Saturday, we’ll be heading to Guilford College, for a tour and a presentation by the editorial board of the new book-to-be by young Friends. (Including C. Wess Daniels!!)

Quakers Uniting in Publications (QUIP) warmly invites you to attend the Quaker Youth Book Project Panel.

Saturday, April 26th 7:30 pm
Bryan Jr. Auditorium on Guilford College campus
This event is free and open to the public

Come hear young adult Friends involved in the Quaker Youth Book Project, QUIP's second youth anthology project and follow up to Whispers of Faith, speak to their hopes for the project, their experiences of youth movement and community in Quakerism, and the role publishing can play in supporting and nurturing rising generations of Quaker writers and ministers. The project's editorial board hails from all branches of the Religious Society of Friends and all over the world - including Kenya, Bolivia, Canada, Great Britain and all over the United States - and bring a diversity of skills and experience related to writing, editing, publishing, visual art, and ecumenical and youth ministry.

For more information on the Quaker Youth Book Project see www.quakeryouth.org/quipbook


On Sunday, I am looking forward to meeting some Friends from North Carolina Yearly Meeting (Conservative) who are gathering in Greensboro over the weekend for their own Representative Body. I don’t know exactly how many or what times, but if you’re interested in joining us, leave me a comment or email me at the address in my profile.

On Monday, there will be a lunchtime discussion about Quakerism and the emerging church with Scott Wagoner and me and some other folks. Scott and his friend Tony are working out exactly where – let him or me know if you want more details!

Monday night, I am looking forward to meeting in person the fabulous foundress of Eco Everyday in Greensboro and a coordinator for the 2005 WGYF, Betsy Blake. I would like to thank Betsy in advance for her kind arrangement of hospitality for me, despite our only knowing each other by phone and by email. And Facebook. I would never have joined Facebook if Betsy hadn’t posted something there about an event that she and I were working on together. But I wanted to see what she had done, and the rest can be seen here.

On Tuesday, I am coming home. I will try to do some writing on the way. It is a full and blessed life I lead. Complicated sometimes, crazy-making maybe, but worth it.

Lord, please help me to remember: It’s not about me. I am not in charge. I am not alone.

Please hold all of those traveling and meeting this week in the Light.

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6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

AND you will get to meet new member of Freedom Friends Church, Sarah Hoggatt, who is working on the youngs friends project with Wess.

Blessings on you all.
Peggy

4/21/2008 5:58 PM  
Blogger Liz in the Mist said...

You get to see Betsy, so jealous! You will love her

4/21/2008 7:42 PM  
Blogger anj said...

Blogging as a great opportunity for advancement. And have fun in North Carolina.

4/21/2008 10:03 PM  
Blogger Robin M. said...

Oh goody. More new Friends! I have lost count now of the people I have met as a direct result of my blog - but it has been one of the major blessings of this endeavor.

Since I am going to be talking about blogging, I think I'm going to take a computer with me on this trip. I usually don't but this might be the one time I can live blog a conference. We'll see.

4/22/2008 12:46 AM  
Blogger Liz Opp said...

The potential topics of discussion sound wonderful, Robin. I'm sure there'll be space for some unexpected topics to arise, too! smile

Also--and you might be planning to do this already--I hope you'll find a way to link the topics directly to your own personal experience. I think I myself would be hard-pressed to explain to my parents, for example, why blogging gives me different opportunities than, say, email or surfing the internet.

And I hope you'll have a chance to talk about your early, early involvement with blogs--what being involved with the Quaker blogosphere was like for you, even before you had a blog and before there was QuakerQuaker (hmm, was there ever a time when QQ didn't exist...?).

Safe travels!

Blessings,
Liz Opp, The Good Raised Up

4/22/2008 7:11 PM  
Blogger Robin M. said...

Oh yeah, Liz, back in the Dark Ages. Was it really 2005? Which feels like yesterday and a long time ago at the same time. Back when I could count the number of Quaker blogs on my fingers, and check them all every day.

I think the main difference about blogging (as opposed to other online communication) is the balance between random encounters with new people and building up links in a small community. You don't have to already know everybody, but it's not completely anonymous either. I will think about this some more. Thanks for the suggestions.

4/22/2008 8:20 PM  

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